The St. Francis Xavier Nine – June 3, 2018

Nine of our SFX youth along with two adult leaders will return from Chicago late tonight to Amtrak’s Union Station.  They have spent the past four days at an “urban immersion service retreat” at the Brother Darst Center  in the Bridgeport neighborhood on the city’s south side.

The center is a ministry of the De La Salle Christians Brothers and was founded in 2002.  It is named after Brother David Darst who taught at De La Salle High School here in Kansas City in the early 1960’s. Brother David is considered the first religious Brother in the United States to oppose an unjust war by an act of civil disobedience.  He was one of the Catonsville Nine peace activists who in May 1968 entered government offices in Catonsville, Maryland, demanded draft records, took them out of the building in wire baskets to the parking lot, and burned them with a homemade napalm as a protest of the Vietnam War.  Brother David, along with Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan, Philip Berrigan, four other men and two women were found guilty of destruction of US property and other charges, but declared they were following a “higher law – God’s moral laws.” Before Brother David could serve his prison sentence, he was killed in a car accident. He was 28 years old.

Our SFX Nine didn’t do any protesting or get arrested in Chicago, but they did come face-to-face with injustice.  They spent time learning about food insecurity, homelessness, mass incarceration, immigration, and racism and segregation.  They reflected on Catholic Social Teaching.  They worked with and engaged in dialogue with people with whom they do not normally interact.  They lived in community, simply.

The Brother Darst Center prides itself in providing “an engaging, safe, and reflective environment in which people of all ages can be introduced to and explore issues of social justice.”  Their promotional materials explain, “Our goal is to invite a genuine conversation about the world around us, raising awareness, challenging perceptions, and encouraging behavioral change that reflects the Christian social teachings of peace, justice and appreciation of the dignity of every person and value of the earth.”

This wasn’t just a chance for our kids to “do good.” It was an opportunity for our kids to have a life-changing experience of encounter with others. 

I am so grateful to their adult leaders Ann Marie Castleman and RU student Gabby Scherberle, their parents, and the good folks at SFX who supported their fundraisers that made this all possible.

I can’t wait to hear all about it.